As temperatures drop to the coldest so far this season and Georgians warm up their homes, the Georgia Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner and Habersham County Emergency Services Director, Chad Black, are encouraging citizens to be cautious when using space heaters in their homes.
The Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner says that heating equipment is a leading cause of residential fires in the United States. According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment is a leading cause of fires in U.S. homes.
The NFPA says that every year, fire departments respond to an average of 48,530 fires involving heating equipment. Those fires result in an annual loss of approximately 500 lives, 1,350 injuries and $1.1 billion in property damage.
When using a space heater, Black and the Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner recommend similar safety guidelines:
- Keep anything that could catch fire at least 3 feet away from a space heater
- Never leave a space heater unattended, whether leaving the house or going to sleep
- Never plug a space heater into an extension cord, a heater should be plugged directly into an outlet
- Keep space heaters on a level surface on the floor
- Don’t use space heaters in kitchens or bathrooms where they could be exposed to water
- Keep children and pets safely away from space heaters
- Keep cords away from where they may be trip hazards
Black says that all current space heaters have a shut-off mechanism if the heater is tipped over. He says to check and make sure your heaters have this mechanism, and if not, it may be time to look into a new heater.
“Using common sense is the best way to go,” he says.
Not following those important safety instructions can have horrible consequences, though. Black has seen many space heater fires in the years he’s worked in fire services, some resulting in deaths.
“We had one in my past department that was a modular home,” Black says. “[It] occurred during the middle of the night and killed two adults and three children. . . this was a tragic and sad event.”
He says that following investigation into the fire’s origin, they found that a space heater had been left on while the family was asleep. The fire started in the room the space heater was in, and quickly spread through the residence, taking the lives of five people.
“Just use [heaters] exactly how they are recommended to be utilized, never do anything that goes against those recommendations,” Black says. “It only takes a moment to leave [a space heater] unattended, or go to sleep and something tragic occur.”
Space heaters don’t just create a fire hazard in homes, they create a carbon monoxide risk, too. Check back with Now Habersham to hear how a local family almost lost their lives from excess carbon monoxide in their home due to a heater.
